The largest pornographic website in Vietnam is on the verge of being shut down with the arrest of a dozen people, mostly students aged between 20 and 30, reports the Earth Times.

Senior lieutenant colonel Tran Van Hoa, head of the country’s Anti High Technology Crimes division, said, "This is the first time we have arrested so many people involved in spreading pornography in Vietnam." The website www.mocxxx.com - started in 2006 as a forum to educate young people on how to have a healthy sex life - is still operational. Hoa said, "We have decided not to shut down the website because we are downloading data from it to gather evidence to charge those people." He claimed that the website will be closed after the retrieval of enough proof.

The website has apparently evolved into a pornographic site, with members posting explicit videos. State media reported that the website members used its forum to exchange information about prostitutes. The police was warned of the danger of the website when the number of registered members shot from 97,000 to 300,000. Alexa Internet, in its web traffic data by country, ranks www.mocxxx.com 84th among the top 100 most-visited websites in Vietnam.

Hoa refused to disclose further information about the arrests while the case was under investigation. The Anti High Technology Crimes division is working with local police departments, and the website’s operators are being interrogated. According to Vietnamese laws, those who make, circulate or sell books, photographs or material deemed to be pornographic are liable to fine of up to $3,000 and a sentence of three years in prison. X